The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-12-21
A BURIED CITY.
TRACES OF A GREAT PREHIS-
TORIC RACE IN ARIZONA.
Old Irrigatin4 Canals. Ruins Of
Large Buildings. Stone Utensils,
Burial Tombs, ETC.. .Unearthed
"A Child's Skeleton, Etc.

ION I1ON WTlteS tIlut SOue very ltu Poi@ne
discoveries concerning prehistoric races
have been made during the past year by
Professor Frank Cushman, who has
charge of an exploring expedition in
Southern Arizona. His field of obser-
vation has been the Salt River Valley,
where Father Keno made explorations as
early as 1897, whore he Travelled through
Arizona to establish Jesuit missions,
and he speaks of it as having consider
able population of Indians, who have
since become known as the Pimas and
Maricopas. But he discovered traces of
a heavy population that had existed long
before, and that had become extinct.
Among the evidences were old irrigating
canals, ruins of buildings and stone
utensils, both for war and domestic use.
Professor Cushman's camp, as described
by the POST correspondent, who had
visited it in Augu>t last, was at the edge
of what lad evidently been a city of
considerable size, and about three hun
dred yards away was the citadel or
fortress of this city. He walked over to
this citadel and took a general survey
from that point. 1t had evidently been a
building of considerable size and
strength, probably several stories high,
and had its foundation laid deep in the
Garth. The mater al used in its construc-
ton was sun-dried clay, tho same as that
used by the Mcxicaus of the lower and
middle classes, and before MIR. Cushman
began his explorations there was nothing
to mark its whereabouts except a sort OF
oblong hiIlock or mound. Little of the
walls above the foundation were found
intact, but the ground plan could be
traced in every detail, as we'll as the lines
of the outer wall. The rooms were of
different sizes, and seem to have been
constructed with much architectural
skill. A number of the smaller apart
ments had undoubtedly been constructed
for burial-vaults, for when they were
opened up skeletons were found in them,
the heads being invariably to the east.
In one of these vaults was the skeleton OF
a child. Mr.. Cushman was of opinion
that the building had been sort OF com.
bined citadel and sacred temple, and
that the remains of those found there
were those of priests and their families.
He said he had encountered many evil
dences that convinced him that the
people who inhabited the city had
reached the period in civilization when
the priest is supreme in power. A chief
or king lived in the citadel, but he was
evidently under the control OF the
priests. :,
The city extended out in all direc-
tions from the palace or temple, and the
foundations of many of them had been
exposed, quite number of them consist
ing of only single room; but now and
then there would be one of larger and
more ample proportions, and in most of
these lar ger ones there had been found
burial-vaults and skeletons. Two thou
sand of these skeletons had been ex-
humed. There was general burial
ground, where the dead seem to have
been thrown promiscuously, a sort of
Potter's field, but the skeletons here
were so broken up that no good speci-
mems could be obtained. The richer
people buried their dead in their
houses, building air-tight vaults for the
purpose, but the poor classes were dis
posed of much as they are to-day in our
larger cities.
Mr.. Cushman had found great deal
of pottery in the tombs, as well as in
and about the dwellings. All the best
specimens seemed to have been used for
sacred purposes, aud this was, no doubt,
one reason Mr.. Cushman had for believ-
ing these people, whoever they were. had
arrived at period in their national his.
tory when the priests were at the head OF
affairs. These finer pieces OF pottery
were of many different shades, but were
all of light color, with bla:k markings
and figures, reminding one greatly OF
ancient Egyptian pottery. The inferior
specimens look much like that made by
the Arizona Indians of to-day. No iron,
COD er or metal instruments of any kind
have been found, but great quantities of
stone axes, stone pestles and mortars'
bone needles and knives and other such
materials as belong to the stone age. But
the skill with which these articles were
made was far superior to that shown by
the Indians found in America by the
whites. These prehistoric dwellers of
Southern Arizona were people of very
superior intelligence. They built cities
that ranked with those found in Mexico
BY Cortez, and were in advance of those
of the Colorado Zuni tribe of the present
day. Mr.. Cushman thinks they were
much the same people as the Zunis.
MIR. Cushman has found a good deal OF
wheat and barley and other grain, all OF
it, of course, in a 'charred, blackened
condition, and he had also traced several
canals and had found the ruins OF large
reservoir, so that he had no doubt that
extensive irrigation had beeu carried on,
and that all the valley had been under
cultivation. He thinks there must have
been a population of at least %, 600 IN
the ruined city he was exploring, and
that most of the inhabitants lived by
cultivating the surrounding country.
NJ. Cushman says his theory of the dis.
appearance of this prehistoric people and
the almost complete oblitcration Of their
CITY, is that they suffered from great
like the Inhabitants of Her
culanpum and Pompcii. 1t was proba-
bly, an earthquake He says: 'l have
found skeletons underthc walls of houses,
lying as if the walls had suddenly fallen
upon the persons and crushed them to
death. Yes. think there came o ter
rlblc earthquake, killed many and fright
ened the remainder away. They were
no doubt a religious people, and strongly
so that they saw in the
calamity that bcfell them a warning to
seek some other abode. They probably |
moved south, and it may have been
their descendants that the Spaniards
found in Mexico. They were certainly |
n..,.,l In intalIinnnnn md general ad. |